CPSU
EQUALITY REPORT
THERESA DWYER,
EQUALITY OFFICER
ANNUAL DELEGATE
CONFERENCE
2007
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Dear Delegates,
The following report is a summary of the work on the Union’s Equality agenda
over the last twelve months. It highlights the ongoing work at the Equality
Committee of General Council which comprises of Civil Service Unions and the
Equality Unit at the Department of Finance and goes on to cover developments
at CPSU and ICTU level followed by an information update. The report also
covers legislative changes, claims at General Council, current equality cases and
concludes with an equality update on developments in the semi state and private
sector.
1. EUROPEAN YEAR FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL
The year 2007 is designated as the European Year for Equal Opportunities for All
and seeks to make people in the European Union more aware of their rights to
enjoy equal treatment and a life free from discrimination. The activities
throughout the EU during the year will focus on the discrimination some
individuals suffer because of their race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, age,
gender, sexual orientation or disability. Congress are currently in the process of
developing a series of five policy papers relating to equality in the work-place
under the following themes:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Access to the work-place and promotions.
Flexible working and work/life balance issues.
Equal pay.
Work-place culture – anti harassment pro diversity.
Promoting equality – positive action, accommodating diversity.
These policy papers will support the key theme for the ICTU Biennial Delegate
Conference in July of this year which is that of Equal Opportunities.
2. CIVIL SERVICE CRECHES
There are six Civil Service crèches located in Mount Street, Dublin 1, Marlboro
Street, Dublin 2, Ennis, Athlone, Sligo and Backweston. Plans for an eighty place
crèche in Cork which will also have provision for after school care are at an
advance stage. Full planning permission was achieved in mid 2006 for the site at
Mahon and building is set to commence on the 16th April 2007.
However, the site identified for a crèche in Limerick was deemed unsuitable and
the Galway site is no longer available as another interested party took
possession. OPW will continue to look for suitable sites at these locations.
Following a tendering process a childcare operated has been appointed to the
Ennis crèche and will take up the appointment on 1st June 2007. The new
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childcare provider is called Cradle and All and the current interim arrangement at
the Ennis crèche will continue until then.
Following on from discussions with the Department of Finance and the Interim
Board regarding crèche fees and the availability of places for children of Civil
Servants the following is an outline of the operation of Civil Service crèches.
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Each crèche operator applies to increase fees on a yearly basis. Up to
now the increase was sought from the date of the opening of the individual
crèche however the Board have now agreed to have the fee increase take
effect from 1st January each year.
Crèche operators give approximately two months notice of increases for
example, parents were advised in November 2006 of the increase due to
come into effect in January 2007.
The biggest cost on crèche operators is staff salaries. The increases
sought for 2007 will largely go towards increases due to staff salaries. The
figures provided for the Interim Board from the Auditors/Accountants show
that there are no massive profits in Civil Service crèches and in fact the
margins are very tight.
Each Civil Service crèche must be maintained to a high standard and are
subject to regular checks in terms of quality, standard of service, tax
compliance and compliance with the Department of Health regulations. If
comparisons are to be drawn with locally run crèches it should only be
done on the basis that the crèche is at a similar standard and this applies
irrespective of who the crèche operator is.
In terms of a subsidy both the Department of Finance and the Union
representative on the Interim Board have confirmed that the subsidy is
reflected in the Civil Service crèche costs otherwise the fees will be a lot
higher. The Department pointed out that privately run crèches do receive a
subsidy from the State in terms of grants etc.
With regard to availability of crèche places the sequence which was
agreed by the Executive Committee a number of years ago is that Civil
Servants are first choice and then the places go to staff of Local
Authorities and Defence Forces. This sequence continues to operate.
Civil Service crèche operators do not collect data on the parents on whose
children are placed in the crèche other than whether they are Civil Servants,
Local Authority etc. Therefore in order to assess the impact of crèche costs on
CPSU members in terms of affordability the Union is conducting some research
into the number of children of Civil Servants who avail of the crèches at each
location. This information is being collected by the Branch Representatives.
On a separate note the Staff Panel of the Union’s have requested that the
provisions of Section 34 of the Finance Act 1999 be afforded to Civil Servants
who avail of a crèche place in a crèche made available by the employer. Section
34 of the Act introduced measures to encourage employers to provide childcare
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facilities. However, the initial response from the Department is that this would be
considered a benefit-in-kind but discussions are continuing.
The Ennis crèche has now been awarded the Centres of Excellence award by
the National Children’s Nurseries Association (NCNA). This means that all Civil
Service crèches now have the Centres of Excellence Award.
3. WORK/LIFE BALANCE REVIEW
The Work/Life Balance Review is a long term project which commenced in late
2005 and was aimed at identifying barriers and/or difficulties in the
implementation of all schemes both statutory and non statutory that are available
in the Civil Service. It was requested by the Unions as a means of identifying and
addressing issues in relation to their availability from Department to Department
and location to location.
In general the Equality Committee of General Council has a proactive approach
to work/life balance policies and we have jointly developed a good range of
policies for members across the Civil Service. The Union expectation from the
review is that it will go some way towards identifying and improving the operation
and availability of work/life balance arrangements across the Civil Service for all
concerned. The draft Report has just been published and is currently under
discussion at the Committee. In addition the Department of Finance have
established a work/life balance network comprising of stake-holders from each
Department/Office to consider the findings of the draft report and to monitor
developments.
However, difficulties often arise on a Departmental basis with regard to
implementation. There are particular difficulties in some locations with the
worksharing scheme where members who are striving to achieve a balance
between their work and personal lives are restricted by Management to the exact
patterns listed in the worksharing circular. For example, a parent for whom
working from 9.00a.m. to 3.00p.m. presents difficulties where an option of
9.00a.m. to 2.45p.m., a difference of 15 minutes would resolve the issue, were
refused this type of flexibility. Following lengthy discussions at the General
Council Equality Committee I am pleased to report that a letter issued to
Personnel Officers in December 2006 advising that “The terms of the
Worksharing Circular (31/2001) are not intended to be exclusive, i.e. the
examples cited are non-exhaustive. Those patterns specifically mentioned are
examples of patterns that may be used in Category 1, Category 11 etc. The
circular itself alludes to this in paragraph 1.2, which states that “it is important
that both Management and those participating in the scheme adopt a flexible
approach to the operation of the scheme”. Subject to the principle that the
implementation of the scheme is at the discretion of management, in the
light of the operational needs of Departments, worksharing arrangements
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which fall outside of the examples listed in circular 31/2001 may be implemented
by all Departments/Offices if they choose”.
The most recent figures from the Department of Finance on worksharing are from
the end of June 2005 and show that overall about 17% of the total staff in the
Civil Service avail of worksharing. Of those 93% are female and 96% are below
the grade of Assistant Principal. This translates into a total of 5458 of which 5085
are female and 373 are male.
4. WORK/LIFE BALANCE DAY
Work/Life Balance Day falls on 1st March each year. A leaflet from ICTU
supported by IBEC and the Equality Authority advertising the day and outlining
ideas and action in the work place issued to all Branches. The leaflet also
provided useful web-site addresses and contact names. Head Office has always
advised Branches to have Work/Life Balance Day placed on the agenda at
Branch and Partnership Committee level in order to debate the feasibility of
holding an event at your work place. This is a very important day and is an
opportunity for members to arrange to take part in an event to mark the day and
to raise awareness of the need of work/life balance arrangements. Some
activities at Branch level which were advised to Head Office include:
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Running the Work/Life Balance Day in conjunction with a health screening
programme which took place over a number of days. The event included
talks on stress management and work/life options, how to manage
different areas of your life and guided walking tours of local areas of
interest. On Work/Life Balance Day a hotline arrangement was set up with
HR to deal specifically with work/life balance issues. The event was
arranged by a Sub Group of Partnership.
On Work/Life Balance Day a guided tour of the Botanic Gardens for an
hour and a half with tea/coffee and scones available after the tour. The
event was very well attended and paid for by management.
Some Departments/Offices gave time on the clock on Work/Life Balance
Day.
5. TERM TIME
A revised circular on Term Time which included the eight week option in addition
to the existing ten and thirteen week options issued in October 2006. However,
the three options are at the discretion of Management and the Department of
Finance are not prepared to look at any shorter periods in the foreseeable future.
The most recent figures from the Department of Finance on term time are from
the end of June 2005 and show that overall 5% of total staff in the Civil Service
avail of term time. Of those 91% are female and 97% are below the grade of
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Assistant Principal. This translates into a total of 1664 of which 1520 are female
and 144 are male.
6. EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY COMMITTEE
The Equality and Diversity Committee was established in 2005 to review issues
and inform discussions on matters at the following forums:
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General Council Equal Opportunities Committee
ICTU Women’s Committee
ICTU Women’s Annual Seminar
ICTU Women’s Biennial Conference
National Women’s Council of Ireland Forum
And the wider ICTU and other equality and diversity issues.
The Committee has met on a number of occasions and in June 2006 Dinah
O’Connor from Revenue in Ennis was nominated as the representative to the
ICTU Women’s Committee. Martha Boulos, Social & Family Affairs Longford,
was nominated as the representative to the National Women’s Council of Ireland.
The Committee has held two Equality & Diversity events. The first in November
2005 on the LIFT Project and the second in October 2006 on pensions.
6.1 LIFT Project Forum
Notwithstanding the high level of women in membership which is around 45%, all
Union’s acknowledge a major challenge in getting women to engage and
progress through Union structures and take on high level executive functions and
senior Officer roles. In order to assist trade unions in developing skills to address
the under representation and participation of women at all levels of the
movement from activist at Branch, National and Executive Committee level as
well as full time Officials Congress introduced the LIFT Project (Leadership
Initiatives for Females in Trade Unions). The LIFT Project is in partnership with
the IPA and the National Centre for Partnership and Performance. A LIFT Project
data bank was established and the CPSU provided the names and contact
details of approximately 250 female activists at Executive, National and Branch
Committee level. The Union held a LIFT Forum in November 2005 in Head Office
to raise awareness of the project and to provide activists with an opportunity to
develop a better understanding of the project in terms of its objectives and action
plan. Ms. Danyanne Quemper LIFT Project Manager gave the main presentation.
Further information is available on the LIFT website @ www.lift.ie
6.2 Pensions Forum
The Forum on Pension was held in October 2006 in Wynns Hotel, Dublin 1. The
main focus of the Forum was on pensions with Des O’Leary Principal Officer
Pensions Division of the Department of Finance providing the expertise in this
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area. His presentation covered the basic principles of the pension scheme,
repayment of marriage gratuity, purchase of notional service, current issues
regarding partners/divorce and survivors pension. This was followed by a brief
update on the work/life balance review, term time scheme and flexible working
hours. In addition recent legislative changes in carers leave and parental leave
as well as the Family Income Supplement scheme which is administered by the
Department of Social & Family Affairs was advised.
7. INTERNSHIP/PLACEMENT PROGRAMME
A report from a High Level Group on Traveller issues which was published in
March 2006 by the Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform recommended
that Departments and State Agencies should be directed to make work
placement opportunities available for Travellers by summer 2006. The report also
recommended that the Department of Finance should develop initiatives to assist
Travellers to obtain Public Service employment and this should be done in
consultation with Traveller organisations and the Public Appointments Service.
The report also seeks co-operation from public service trade unions in facilitating
positive action measures to secure public service employment for travellers and
that these initiatives should encompass work experience opportunities. There
were 23 placements available in this project which is of a six month duration with
eleven different Department’s involved. It commenced in October 2006 and is
due to conclude April 2007. Early indications are that the projects seem to have
worked very well and an evaluation will be conducted when the project
concludes.
8. CONGRESS WOMEN’S SEMINAR 2007
The Congress Women’s Seminar took place on 23rd and 24th March 2007 in the
Clarion Hotel, Dublin Airport. The theme of the Seminar was “Globalisation,
Equality and Worker’s Rights in the European Year of Equal Opportunities for
All”. Presentations were made by Ms. June Hartley Solidarity Centre, South
Africa, Ms. Samantha Maher, Clean Clothes Campaign, Ms. Salome Mbugua,
African Women’s Network and Dr. Dorothy Hutton who formally worked in Saudi
Arabia and Pauline Buchanan, Congress Northern Ireland.
9. BUDGET 2007
In the CPSU submission for Budget 2007 the Union called on the Government to
deliver on the following:9.1 Parental Leave
Parental Leave is now the only statutory leave that involves caring for children
that does not attract payment and the Union is seeking to have this leave paid.
Parents particularly those on lower incomes cannot afford to avail of the statutory
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entitlement or else they are forced to make a decision based on the parent in
receipt of the lowest income in the household.
9.2 Paternity Leave
Father’s do not have any statutory entitlements to leave at the time of the birth of
their child. This leave should be a legal right to the Father so as to allow him to
share in the birth of his child and to provide support to the mother of the child at
one of the most important times of their lives. The role of father’s at the time of
childbirth was discussed by the Review Group on parental leave who agreed to
consider it further in the context of the amendment of the Parental Leave Act
1998. However, the Parental Leave Amendment Act 2006 made no provision for
paternity leave. The Union is seeking 5 days paid paternity leave for fathers to be
taken at the time of the birth or immediately afterwards.
9.3 Force Majeure Leave
When an employee is absent from work on force majeure leave even if it is only
for a part of the day the absence is counted as one full day. The Union is seeking
to have provision for this leave to be taken in periods of a half day or alternatively
to have the period of leave extended from three to five days in any period of
twelve consecutive months and for five to ten days in any period of thirty six
consecutive
months.
The
Union
also
sought
improvements
to
breastfeeding/lactation breaks under the maternity legislation and this is dealt
with later in the report.
LEGISLATIVE CHANGE
There has been a number of amendments and improvements to legislation for
maternity leave, adoptive leave, parental leave, force majeure leave and carers
leave which are outlined below.
10. MATERNITY/ADOPTIVE LEAVE
On 1st February 2006 the Maternity Protection Acts 1994 to 2004 were amended
by Ministerial Order to bring the provisions of Budget 2006 regarding increases in
paid and unpaid maternity leave into effect.
From 1st March 2007 the period of paid maternity leave is 26 weeks and the
period of additional unpaid maternity leave is 16 weeks. The unpaid leave will
continue to count for seniority and promotion purposes. From 1 st March 2007
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paid adoptive leave is 24 weeks and additional unpaid adoptive leave is sixteen
weeks.
11. PARENTAL LEAVE AND FORCE MAJEURE LEAVE
The Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2006 enacted on 18th May 2006 bring into
effect a number of improvements to parental leave and force majeure leave. The
main changes to the Parental Leave Act are:1) Raising the maximum age of the eligible child from 5 to 8 years. This is
already available in the Civil Service since 1st December 2003.
2) An increase in the maximum age of the eligible child to 16 years in the
case of a child with a disability. This is also available in the Civil
Service since 1st December 2003.
3) Extension of parental leave entitlement to persons acting in locoparentis in respect of an eligible child. This is already available in the
Civil Service since 1st December 2003. However the Act now includes
the term “relevant parent” which is defined as “(a) a natural parent, the
adoptive parent or the adopting parent in respect of the child or (b)
acting in loco-parentis of the child”.
4) A statutory entitlement to take the 14 weeks parental leave in separate
blocks of a minimum of six continuous weeks or more favourable terms
with the agreement of the employer.
5) Transfer of parental leave entitlement from one parent to another if
both parents are employed by the same employer subject to the
employer’s agreement. The Civil Service is deemed to be the same
employer irrespective of which Department/Office a member works in.
6) An employee who falls ill while on parental leave and as a result is
unable to care for the child may:- (a) if the period of parental leave has
not commenced postpone the taking of the leave to such time as the
employee is no longer sick or (b) if the period of parental leave has
commenced suspend the taking of the balance of the leave to such
time as the employee is no longer sick.
7) Extension of the force majeure provisions to include persons in a
relationship of domestic dependency including same sex partners. The
2006 Act provides that “(a) a person who resides with an employee is
taken to be in a relationship of domestic dependency with the
employee if, in the event of injury or illness, one reasonably relies on
the other to make arrangements for the provision of care and (b) the
sexual orientation of the persons concerned is immaterial.
12. CARERS LEAVE
The Social Welfare (Consolidated Payments Provisions) (Amendment) (No.8)
(Carers and Homemakers) Regulations 2006 (SI 288 of 2006) amends the
legislation to provide that the care giver may engage in employment outside the
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home, self employment or participate in training and education courses approved
by the Minister for an aggregate maximum of fifteen hours per week and still be
considered to be providing full time care and attention to the care recipient.
This is an increase from ten hours to fifteen hours per week. The Union got
agreement from the Department of Finance that where a Civil Servant availing of
carers leave who wishes to continue to work in the Civil Service on a reduced
hours basis can apply to do so through their Personnel Division.
The hours worked must not exceed the statutory limit and the gross earnings
from the employment must not exceed the approved weekly limit as set by the
Department of Social & Family Affairs. The decision to allow a Civil Servant to
engage in employment is at the discretion of the Head of the Department/Office.
13. FIXED TERM WORK CASES
For some time the union had been raising issues with the Department of Foreign
Affairs in relation to
 the number of fixed term workers in the passport offices
 the duration of their contracts and
 the practice of letting fixed term workers go before Christmas and re-hiring
them after Christmas to do exactly the same work
However the Department was not prepared to address these issues and the
union referred six cases to the Rights Commissioner Service 19th September
2005 under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003. Hearings
took place on 31st August, 11th October and 25th November 2005.
At these hearings the union argued that the claimants are contractually bound to
perform the same work as that of comparable permanent employees but do not
enjoy the same rights/benefits as permanent workers in terms of their conditions
of employment. Since 2003 each of these workers has been let go just before
Christmas without pay and then rehired at the beginning of the following year to
do the same work. This is at a time when all Government Departments close for
a number of days over the Christmas season. The contracts given to the
claimants were designed to ensure that there was a break in employment so as
to prevent the accrual of employment rights and to avoid offering contracts of
indefinite duration. Furthermore the union argued that the only reason the
claimants were let go for short breaks was because of their status as fixed term
workers. In each case the complainant’s contracts ended on the 17 th December
2004 and in each case they were offered new contracts on the 22 nd December
2004 with effect from the 4th January 2005 to do the same work. The actual
number of working days during this period is 8 days and the balance is public
holidays and a privilege day. This followed a similar practice in the previous year
with the claimant’s contracts ending on the 19th December 2003 and new
contracts offered from the 5th January 2004.
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The union argued that the members involved were entitled to a contract of
indefinite duration under the fixed term legislation and that they were afforded
less favorable conditions of employment than comparable permanent employees.
The members had been employed on a succession of fixed-term contracts since
2001. Five of the claimants had 13 separate fixed-term contracts and the sixth
had been employed on 11 such contracts. The periods between the expiry of one
contract and the conclusion of another were periods of lay-off which did not break
the continuity of their employment. The Union further argued that it was evident
from the aggregate duration of the employment that the purpose for which they
were employed was permanent as opposed to address a temporary need.
The Department argued that the continuity of the Claimant's employment was
broken each time their fixed-term contract expired. In each case the ending of
one contract and the commencement of another was separated in time by a
number of weeks or months therefore none of the members had completed his or
her third year of continuous employment and were bit entitled to a contract of
indefinite duration. According to the Department the members were employed to
meet the temporary and seasonal needs of the Passport Office which
experiences heavy demand at particular times during the year and to deal with
temporary work involving the introduction of a new automated passport system
and the then proposed decentralisation of parts of the Office to Balbriggan, Co
Dublin. The Department went on to argue that the members were not employed
in the period in respect of which they are seeking payment. Their fixed-term
contracts expired in each case on 17th December 2004 and the Claimants did
not resume their employment with the respondent until 4th January 2005.
The decision of the Rights Commissioner was to award a monetary
compensation payment to the six claimants and contracts of indefinite duration to
five of the claimants from the 1st January 2006. The Department appealed this
decision to the Labour Court and the appeal hearing took place on 29th
November 2006. The Labour Court issued their determination on the 17th
January 2007 affirming the Rights Commissioner decision and disallowing the
appeal. The Court in finding in favour of the CPSU and the six claimants stated
in their conclusions that
‘It will be noted that a lay-off arises where an employer is unable to
provide the employees with the work which the employee was
employed to do. The Court cannot accept that the Claimants could
not have been engaged in work to the same degree as others over
the relevant period. In that regard it is significant that the Claimants'
contracts were renewed on 22nd December 2004. The only practical
consequence of deferring their re-commencement date was that they
were taken off the pay-roll over the Christmas period.
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Section 6 of the Act provides, in effect, that fixed-term employees
shall not be treated less favourably than comparable permanent
employees in respect of conditions of employment. Conditions of
Employment are defined as including conditions relating to
remuneration and matters related thereto. Taking an employee off the
payroll is clearly a matter related to remuneration. It is therefore
treatment in respect of a condition of employment coming within the
ambit of s6 of the Act. No comparable permanent employees were
taken of the payroll over this period. It follows that the Claimants were
treated less-favourably than comparable permanent employees
contrary to s6 of the Act. The Court can see no objective ground upon
which this less favourable treatment could be justified. Accordingly
the Claimants are entitled to succeed. The Court is further satisfied
that the award made by the Rights Commissioner in respect of this
aspect of the case is proportionate and appropriate.’
The Union has also lodged additional claims under the Protection of Employees
(Fixed Term Work) Act 2003 on behalf of four members in the Department and
the initial hearing took place on the 7th December 2006.
14. GENERAL COUNCIL CLAIMS
The following claims have been lodged at General Council.
14.1 Condensed Hours
Claim that condensed hours be introduced as a flexible working option and
flexitime bands be amended to accommodate this option.
This claim was lodged at General Council and the Official Side are not prepared
to agree the claim but have agreed to raise it with the work/life balance network
for discussion.
14.2 Full Flexi Credit for Specialist Medical Treatment
Claim for full flexi credit for members who have received specialist medical
treatment from central (Dublin) hospitals.
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Claim lodged at General Council. The Department of Finance are not opposed to
this claim but is reluctant to issue a directive to Departments regarding the
recording of flexitime. Where there are issues regarding a specific case they will
contact the Department concerned.
14.3 Worksharing
Claim for the introduction of a new worksharing pattern of 7.00a.m. to 2.00p.m.
Claim seeking a review of core hours of worksharing staff on 9.00 a.m. to
3.00p.m. to be changed to 9.00 a.m. to 2.45 p.m.
Both claims lodged at General Council and as mentioned earlier the terms of the
worksharing circular are not intended to be exclusive i.e. the examples cited are
non exhaustive and subject to Management agreement, these patterns of
attendance can be implemented.
14.4 Carers Leave
Claim seeking to amend Carers Leave arrangements whereby as with parental
leave the leave can be taken on a daily basis.
Claim lodged at General Council and confirmation from Department of Finance
regarding their interpretation of paragraph 9 of Circular 39 of 2005 which
provides that the leave can be taken as one continuous period of 65 weeks or
one or more periods the total duration of which amounts to not more than 65
weeks.
14.5 Term Time
Claim seeking to have the homemakers scheme extended to include members
who avail of term time.
Checked with the Department of Social & Family Affairs and anyone who is
claiming child benefit is eligible for homemakers credits.
14.6 Breastfeeding breaks
The Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act 2004 and the Maternity Protection
(Breastfeeding) regulations 2004 provided for paid breastfeeding breaks for
mothers until the child is six months old (26 weeks). At the time the Union sought
breaks for a period of between 12 to 24 months which is what is recommended
by the Department of Health and Children. The Maternity Protection Act 1994
(Extension of Periods of Leave) October 2006 provides for an increase in paid
maternity leave of 26 weeks (6 months) by 1st March 2007. While the extension
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of paid maternity leave in Budget 2006 was welcomed it effectively nullifies the
benefits of the paid breastfeeding breaks that came into effect in 2004. The
Union wrote to ICTU asking that they seek to have the matter raise at the social
partnership discussions and to lobby for an increase in the period in which
mothers can avail of breastfeeding/lactation breaks.
A claim was also lodged at General Council seeking to have the period of paid
breastfeeding breaks increased to 24 months to bring the regulations in line with
the Department of Health and Children recommendation. I am pleased to report
that the Department of Finance have agreed to paid breastfeed breaks or
“lactation” breaks for Civil Servants to be extended to when the child who is
being breastfeed reaches 2 years of age.
14.7 Pregnancy Related Illness
The Labour Court recently issued a determination in a case taken by IMPACT on
behalf of one of their members Margaret McKenna against the North Western
Health Board in relation to illness related to pregnancy being treated the same as
all other sick leave which can result in a reduction or loss of pay. The judgement
found among other things that:
1) The sick leave scheme comes within the scope of the Equal Pay Directive
and not the Equal Treatment Directive. This means that the issue in
question relates to pay between men and women and not the different
treatment between men and women.
2) A sick leave scheme that provides for “a reduction in pay where the
absence exceeds a certain duration as regards both female workers
absent prior to maternity leave by reason of an illness related to their
pregnancy and male workers absent by reason of any other illness does
not constitute discrimination ….” The judgement requires that the terms of
the sick leave scheme at issue be amended so as to conform with the
principles of the Determination. The decision of the Labour Court will have
implications for members in the Civil Service.
The Department of Finance are considering the judgement but have recently
advised that when they have developed a scheme by which the judgement can
be accommodated they will implement the finding.
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15. CPSU EQUALITY CASES
IAA EQUAL PAY CASE
The CPSU lodged an equal pay case with the Office of the Director of Equality
Investigations in 1998 on behalf of 25 named female members in the Irish
Aviation Authority. The case was referred under the Anti Discrimination (Pay) Act
1974 the Employment Equality Act 1977, Article 119 of the European Treaty
(later replaced by Article 141 of the Treaty of Amsterdam) Equality Act 1998 and
the European Directive on Equal Pay. At a hearing on 25 th November 2003
before the Equality Officer the employer advised that they would be contesting
the fact that the complainants and the comparators were not engaged in “like
work” and that is so far as the complainants are dealt with under the 1974 Act
would argue that complainants and comparators, who are based in different
locations, could not be deemed to be employed in the “same place” for the
purpose of the Act. The employers argument was based on the fact that the right
to equal pay as defined in the Anti Discrimination (Pay) 1974 provides that a
women employed in the same place shall be entitled to the same rate of
remuneration “as a man who was employed in that place by the same
employer….. if both are employed on like work”. It also provides that “place
includes a city, town or locality”. In July 2004 the Equality Officer decided that
due to the protracted nature of the case he intended to deal with the issue of
“same place” as a preliminary issue and to make a preliminary decision on the
matter. Both the Union and the employer made submissions prior to the hearing
scheduled for 28th October 2005 at which arguments on this issue were made.
The Equality Officer issued a preliminary decision in relation to the matter of
“same place” on 14th February 2006 stating that “…….I find that for the purposes
of the claim for equal pay submitted by the CPSU on behalf of 25 named female
complainants citing comparators in the respondents employment, some of who
are employed in different geographical locations within the state, is a valid claim
within the meaning of the 1974 Act and that nothing in that Act, having regard
also to the direct effect of Article 119 (141) and the Equal Pay Directive, should
be interpreted as restricting a claim by a named complainant to a comparator
employed by the respondent in the same location”. This means that there should
be no restriction on the union in claiming equal pay for the 25 claimants against
any or all of the named male comparators.
However, the employer appealed the Equality Officers decision to the Labour
Court and the appeal hearing took place on 8 th November 2006. The Labour
Court issued their determination on the 6th February 2007 finding that ‘Given the
arguments and the views set out above, the Court upholds the Equality
Officers Decision and dismisses the appeal.’
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Garda Equal Pay – The Equality Officer ruled in favor of the CPSU and
the case has been extended to our grades across the Civil Service. A
hearing is scheduled to take place in the Labour Court on the 22 nd May
2007 on legal preliminary issues.
Court Messengers – Equal pay claim lodged on behalf of the predominantly
male grade of Court Messenger with the predominantly female grade of Staff
Officer. Equality Officer ruled in favour of the employer and the Union has
appealed the Equality Tribunal decision to the Labour Court.
FAS - The Union is alleging discrimination against the Clerical Officer grade
who when they reach the maximum point of their scale cannot progress onto the
next grade pay scale except by way of promotion to Grade 10 which is equivalent
to EO in the Civil Service. The Union is claiming automatic progression for all
Clerical Officers, that once they reach the maximum of their scale they should
proceed up the Grade 11a, which is equivalent to the Staff Officer grade in the
Civil Service. The case has now been referred for investigation by the Equality
Officer.
16. SEMI STATE SECTOR
IAA
Work/Life Balance Review
The Sub Committee established under Partnership to review work/life balance
policies in the Irish Aviation Authority met on a number of occasions over the last
eighteen months. The task of the Sub Committee is to examine the structure
under which the existing schemes are administered and to examine the feasibility
of a Term Time Scheme in the Irish Aviation Authority. The request for a Term
Time Scheme was a CPSU initiative but in discussions the sub committee
recognised the difficulties involved in terms of applications for operational and
professional staff. For example, it would not be an option to fill temporary
vacancies at the grade of Air Traffic Controller, Engineers etc. in the same was
as it would to fill clerical/administrative posts. The sub committee presented a
report of their findings to the Partnership Steering Committee in October 2006.
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The report included recommendations to revise the career break, job sharing and
work sharing policies, to accommodate a greater level of transparency in
consideration of applications and that Term Time leave facility be introduced on a
pilot basis to areas outside the operational and professional grades.
Equality Review
The IAA undertook an equality review in 2005 with the assistance of the Equality
Authority. The review entitled ‘Promoting Equality and Practice’ involved a
number of tasks including the identification of existing levels of diversity within
the workforce and an examination of HR policies including recruitment/selection,
promotion/training and the agreement and implementation of an Equality Action
Plan. The Equality Committee is now commencing the review of the action plan
and this will involve the assistance of the Auditor from the Equality Authority.
An Post
TERM TIME
The Group of Union’s have been successful in having term time operate as a
pilot within the Company for the past three years and the scheme has proven to
be very successful. During the three years we have also been attempting to have
the scheme extended on a Company wide basis. Following discussions at the
Joint Conciliation Council in October agreement was finally reached to have the
scheme extended and this year it will operate as a pilot in all areas of the
Company.
SPECIAL LEAVE WITH PAY ON MARRIAGE
Agreement has been reached to amend circular 7/82 “Special Leave with pay on
marriage” to reflect the fact that 5 days marriage leave will be granted to An Post
employees on their second (or subsequent) marriage.
CAREER BREAKS
In some cases staff members have been left waiting for months for a ‘fillable
vacancy’. Discussions are ongoing but a final agreement is likely to include the
following:
1. Anyone applying for a career break of one year will be replaced by a fixed
term contract which will allow the individual to return to his/her previous
office providing the location still exists.
2. Periods of unpaid special leave for shorter periods will be dealt with on a
case by case basis under existing special leave regulations
3. If the career break is extended beyond one year then the vacancy will be
filled on a permanent basis and the employee returning from career break
will have to wait for the next available vacancy.
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4. Career Breaks can be extended for up to five years
5. The right of appeal will be included in the new circular
6. A clear and transparent application process
ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS FOR PARENTAL LEAVE
As a result of a claim lodged at the Joint Conciliation Council the Union has
reached agreement with An Post to provide for certain administrative
arrangements in terms of averaging of pay during periods of Parental leave.
DIGNITY AT WORK
The “Dignity at Work” policy continues to be the subject of ongoing review at the
JCC. Recently the Health and Safety Authority issued a draft Code of Practice for
Employees and Employers on the prevention and resolution of Bullying at Work.
The Staff side of the Diversity are currently examining this code with a view to
raising a number of issues with the Management Side to further improve the
policy.
TRAINING
We have stressed to the Company that we are not prepared to accept that
Managers or Supervisors who have not been trained could be held liable for
difficulties in this area.
WORK SHARING / JOB SHARING / REDUCED WORKING HOURS
The Staff Side proposed the introduction of the same schemes that currently
exist within the Civil Service. The Company has suggested that rather than
examine this in isolation that we should examine this as part of a wider
examination of part time working. Discussions are ongoing and we are currently
considering two documents tabled by the Staff Side as follows:


Code of Practice for Part Time Workers
Range of Flexible Options available to staff
RECOGNITION OF SPOUSE AS BEING MARRIED, COHABITING COUPLES
OF SAME OR OPPOSITE SEX
The Group of Union’s have requested the Company to amend Company
Circulars to reflect the above. The Company are agreeable to this and have
requested that the Group of Union’s provide details of the circulars to be
amended.
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EIRCOM
WORK/LIFE BALANCE
Some progress on Work/Life balance arrangements was achieved with a backlog
of applications approved in February 2007. New applicants were advised to apply
early to maximise their chances of approval, contingent on the business
requirements also being satisfied.
SABBATICAL LEAVE
Agreement was reached in 2005/6 to amalgamate Term Time into a revised
Sabbatical leave arrangement. The benefits of same is that while Term Time
leave does not count for pension purposes Sabbatical leave does, with the
company funding both the employer and employee contribution to the eircom
pensions scheme. Sabbatical leave can now be taken as follows:




1 month
3 months
6 months or
9 months.
The 1 or 3 month options can, where sanctioned, be taken each year. The 6 or 9
month options are available once during your career with eircom. Sabbatical, like
Term Time leave, is unpaid leave. A further 2 month option has also been
agreed. Agreement has been reached that the level of Sabbatical leave will be
monitored by Unions and Management to ensure that at a minimum the level
sanctioned are no lower than current levels of Term Time and Sabbatical leave.
JOINT CONCILIATION COUNCIL / DIVERSITY SUB-COMMITTEE
A number of issues which have featured at either JCC or the Diversity subcommittee as follows:
Workplace Charter on Bullying & Harassment – a revised charter is under
consideration with a renewed emphasis on Mediation
Skillsnets – eircom and Unions are involved in a national training initiative with a
view to broadening the training and development options of NEC members and
HO staff, particularly in relation to conflict management skills
Parental Leave claim to average payment over 12 months / 52 weeks as with
Termtime
Bereavement Leave – amendment to include grandchildren is being positively
considered by the company. Other amendments to be kept under review.
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Definition of Spouse – a claim to extend the definition of spouse to same sex
relationships has been lodged and will be reviewed in the context of potential
new legislation on the matter.
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